1. Technical Field
The invention relates generally to computer systems and, more particularly, to power management of functional units of microprocessors.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, microprocessors have one or more functional units, which execute instructions. These functional units, which include floating-point units (FPUs) and fixed-point units (FXU), among others, contribute significantly to the power consumption of microprocessors. Therefore, a need exists for reducing power consumption in the functional units of microprocessors without affecting the performance.
The market for battery-powered systems is expanding at a rapid rate, in which the battery life of a system is important and power is at a premium. Lower power consumption of microprocessors is an important consideration for logic and device design. Due to the complex designs and large on-chip caches, power consumption of modern microprocessor chips is a primary design factor that determines the commercial success of most modern microprocessor products.